


Delicate Machinery

by des_esseintes



Category: Leviathan - Scott Westerfeld
Genre: Consentacles, F/M, Mile High Club, Second Time, Uniform Kink, Vibrators
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-16
Updated: 2016-04-16
Packaged: 2018-06-02 16:00:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6572635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/des_esseintes/pseuds/des_esseintes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Deryn has discovered a new use for the machine room. Alek is intrigued, and Dr. Barlow's latest creation is willing to help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Delicate Machinery

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DesertScribe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertScribe/gifts).



“Welcome back aboard the _Leviathan_ , Mr. Hohenberg,” said Deryn Sharp with a sideways grin and an outstretched hand. “She’s missed you.”

“I’ve missed her, too,” Alek said softly. Three months he hadn’t seen Deryn, and he wished he could do more than shake her hand, but they’d reunited on the airship’s busy gangway as the crew took on supplies and prepared to cast off. He had to settle for looking her up and down, from the tips of her polished dress boots to her neatly-clipped hair. He didn’t miss the long, thin scar running from her jaw up to one ear—clearly this mission had been more interesting than her one brief letter had conveyed—but it wasn’t this that made him raise his eyebrows. “Dress uniform? Is it Middie Sharp again?”

“Aye, but strictly on a temporary basis,” she said, letting go of his hand. “All part of the mission. Dr. Barlow will explain. ”

Alek was about to comment on the unlikelihood of _that_ , when the lady boffin herself strode up beside them, Tazza at her heels. “Alek! Excellent. I trust Society business has been running smoothly in London without us. Do come aboard and settle your things. I believe the captain is almost ready to cast off, and we have a great deal to do. Meet us on the command deck in twenty minutes. Mr. Sharp, with me.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Deryn said, sparing Alek a rueful grimace before she spun on her heel and disappeared after Dr. Barlow.

Alek sighed, adjusting the valise he’d tucked under one arm. Bovril shifted a little on his shoulder. “Missed her,” the loris said quietly.

\----------------------

Alek did his level best to pay attention during the briefing that followed, but his eyes kept straying to Deryn, standing smartly in her polished and tailored uniform. He wondered where she’d had it made. No doubt Dr. Barlow had arranged things discreetly. He nodded along to the lady boffin’s explanation of the roles they were to play over the next several months, but when the conversation descended into a well-worn argument between the captain and Dr. Barlow over the use of Air Service resources, he let his thoughts wander back to Deryn. And not only to Deryn, as she was now, but to Deryn as she’d been three months ago, hours before she left on the mission that had left her with a new wardrobe and a scar across her cheek. When he’d heard a tapping at his door in the early hours of the morning and opened it to find her standing outside, wide-eyed and determined—and then she had stepped in, closing the door firmly behind her.

Alek would never have dared come to her like that. Not that he hadn’t thought about it, much more often than he liked to admit. They had exchanged hundreds of kisses since he’d thrown the pope’s letter from the bowhead of the _Leviathan_ , but they had to be careful. Deryn still went about dressed as a boy more often than not, and while he was almost sure Dr. Barlow and Count Volger at least knew about their relationship, Alek suspected they were both happier to turn a blind eye than to accept it outright. And he knew exactly what Volger would have said if Alek was stupid enough to cause a public scandal. Alek might not be the heir to the Austrian throne any longer, but he was his father’s son, and he’d been taught never to jeopardize a lady’s reputation.

Looking at Deryn now, with her short hair and her dress uniform and the thin red line of a recent knife-scratch across her cheek, Alek wasn’t sure whether his father or Deryn herself would have been more surprised to hear her called a lady. That didn’t change Alek’s responsibility toward her, though.

And on top of all that, Alek would never have come to her because he’d have been too afraid. Deryn hadn’t hesitated, but that was nothing new. He’d always known she was braver than him. He only wished—he flushed, thinking about what he wished, and hoped no-one would notice. He’d replayed those hours in his bed a hundred times in the months she was gone. It had been an extraordinary experience, but over so quickly. Deryn had turned into his arms afterward so they could hold each other until she had to slip away at dawn, and that had been wonderful. Still, Alek had a vague sense he’d disappointed her in some way. She’d _seemed_ to enjoy it, but he had no idea how to ask, and then she’d been gone.

“…if you are not otherwise occupied, Mr. Hohenberg?”

Alek started. Bovril whispered in his ear, “Perhaps Mr. Sharp can introduce you to our cargo, if you are not otherwise occupied.”

“Yes, of course, Dr. Barlow,” Alek managed.

The lady boffin was staring him in that way he had, making him worry she knew exactly what he was thinking about. “Excellent,” she said. “You are both dismissed.”

Alek breathed a sigh of relief as he followed Deryn off the command deck. “Our cargo?” he asked in an undertone.

“The _coleoidines_ ,” Bovril replied. “Useful little things.” The creature had clearly been paying attention since they boarded. Alek was trying, truly he was, but it had after all been three months, and all he could seem to focus on was the quick flash of Deryn’s slim legs as she led him to their destination. And then Alek realized where they was going, and he groaned.

It had been ages since they’d traveled aboard the _Leviathan_ , but he’d seen enough of the machine room to last him the rest of his life. “What are we hatching now?” he asked Deryn.

“ _Coleoidines_. Weren’t you listening?”

“ _Dummkopf,_ ” Bovril commented.

Alek sighed. “Yes, but what _are_ —” They stepped inside, and he had only enough time to take in the familiar dimness of the machine room, neat stacks of toolboxes and supplies surrounded by humming exhaust pipes of all sizes, when something dropped on his face.

Alek did not shriek, but he did let out a muffled sound of surprise and very reasonable alarm. Bovril _humphed_ in protest and scurried from his shoulder.

“That, you daft prince, is a _coleoidine_ ,” Deryn said, as her fingers peeled the thing off of him. He blinked as it came away, revealing her face just inches from his. She was smiling, fond and amused, and startled as he was it was still an effort to look away from her and down at the beastie now wrapped around her hands.

It was an odd, soft, greenish thing, shimmering in the glow of Dr. Barlow’s very familiar heat lamps. Alek couldn’t see anything he recognized as a face. It shifted and spread as he watched, long tentacles bunching and extending with a weird grace. “But what is it for?”

“That’s where your expertise is supposed to come in. They’re designed to work with Clanker engines. Dr. Barlow thinks we can train them to do repairs on delicate and hard-to-reach machinery.” Deryn held it up to him, and he took it from her with some trepidation. It was first soft and silky-smooth against his hands, then rough, as dozens of tiny muscles bunched under the skin to form a ridged and gripping surface. As it moved over his hand, it left an odd, wet gleam in its wake, warm and not entirely unpleasant. “See, they’re even self-lubricating. Brilliant, aren’t they?”

“I suppose so,” said Alek, very dubiously.

“Good,” Deryn said, as though they’d settled something. “Now would you say I’ve introduced you to our cargo, Your Highness?”

“I suppose—” Alek started to say again, but she interrupted him by taking his face between her hands and kissing him thoroughly.

Alek let out another muffled sound, this one much happier. He would have liked to reach for her, but the _coleoidine_ didn’t want to let him shake it off, so they stood there with the beastie held between them for a very long and pleasant few minutes as Deryn had her way with him. By the time she let him go, his breath was coming hard. “I’ve been coming up here when it’s quiet,” she said. Her voice was softer than usual. “To think about you.”

Alek was a little taken aback, though not at all displeased. He knew Deryn cared about him. She’d been remarkably insistent about that, in fact. But she was never _sentimental_ , and he had a difficult time imagining her languishing in his absence. He smiled. “I’ve missed you, too, Deryn.”

“No, I mean—” Even in the dark of the machine room, he could see her blush. “I’ve been coming here to—to think about you, and what we did before we left.”

“Oh,” he said, stupidly. He cleared his throat. “Not the most romantic place for that, is it?”

She didn’t laugh. “No,” she said, still very soft, but her voice was clear. “But it’s private. Dr. Barlow doesn’t want people wandering in on the _coleoidines_ before they’re mature. And—” She stopped completely now.

Before he could ask what was wrong, Bovril spoke up from its perch above their heads. “I’ve been coming here!” it said brightly.

Deryn turned a furious glare on the loris. “Blethering beastie!” she hissed. Irritation seemed to make whatever she was trying to say a bit easier, though. She swallowed and looked back at Alek. “Can I show you something?”

Alek’s thoughts went back to his first sight of her stepping out of her trousers those months ago, all long legs and stiff-jawed determination. “Of course,” he said, hoping he didn’t sound as odd as he felt. His mouth was dry.

To his disappointment, though, she only turned and led him to one end of the machine room, where a great pipe as wide across as Alek’s shoulders passed from one wall to another. She put one hand on it, reaching absently to peel off another _coleoidine_ that tried to cling to her wrist. Alek put his hand beside hers. The metal was warm to the touch, but not uncomfortably so, and it pulsed rhythmically under his palm. “Exhaust runoff from the engines?” he asked.

“I reckon so,” she said.

He shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

Deryn let out an explosive breath. “It—I’ve—oh, blisters. It vibrates, with the engines, y’see?”

“Yes,” Alek said cautiously, though he didn’t see at all.

“I sit on it,” Deryn said, very quickly. “When I’m—thinking about you.”

He shook his head. “I don’t understand.” She rolled her eyes, still blushing ferociously, and then he thought he might understand. “You mean you—does it feel—”

“It’s _nice_ ,” she said a little defiantly.

Alex stared at her, imagining this, her trouser-clad legs straddling the pipe the way they’d straddled him that night. Deryn moving, the vibrations under her. If his mouth had been dry before, now it was parched. “You said,” he tried, and had to clear his throat. “You said you were going to show me.”

Her eyes went wide, and she lifted her chin. “If you like, Your Highness.”

“I would like,” he said. “I’d like it very much.”

She snorted. “Aye, I’ll just bet you would.” She ducked down to reach for the laces of her tall, polished boots, hiding her face.

“Wait,” he said before he could stop himself. “Would you leave those on?”

She stopped, lifting her head just enough to stare at him. “The boots?”

He nodded. “And—the trousers, too?”

“ _Mr._ Sharp,” said Bovril’s voice from the shadows.

Deryn blinked. “Daft prince,” she said softly, but there was a slow grin spreading across her face. “If you _insist_ , then.” She straightened and reached for the smart leather belt at her waist instead.

Alek couldn’t help himself. He stepped in closer as she slid the belt away, putting his hands to either side of her slip hips. She shivered a little, but her own fingers kept going, unbuttoning the trousers so only his grip kept them from falling open. She grabbed two fistfuls of her dress shirt and pulled it up, giving him a quick glimpse of pale belly underneath, and then started to unbutton that, too. “I’ll keep it on, too, if you like,” she said. The offer started out sly and knowing, but when midway through he let his thumbs drift up to touch bare skin her voice went suddenly thin and airy. He liked that. Something stirred in him, something hot and wanting that made his pulse jump, and his cock, too.

“Just a minute, then,” she said, pulling back from him and holding the trousers up. She turned away to hitch one leg over the engine pipe. It was a little awkward, not just because she was half undressed but because her leg was still stiff sometimes, two years after that old wound. It didn’t seem to bother her much, though. She settled down astride the warm, humming metal, the balls of her feet resting lightly against the floor. “There,” she said, still breathy.

He’d been planning to stand back and watch, but she was staring at him with a fierce look that was so _Deryn_ , he couldn’t help himself. Alek stepped forward so her left knee was pressed between his, sliding his palm inside the dress shirt and leaning in to kiss her. She let out a startled gasp, but her mouth curved up under his. “All right,” he murmured, “show me.”

“I would,” she informed him, “if you would stop _distracting_ —” He ignored her, letting his hand creep up under the shirt. Her breasts weren’t as big as most women’s. Not, of course, that Aleksander of Hohenberg was in the habit of looking at women’s breasts, but he had noticed. He liked Deryn’s. They were perfect and smooth under his fingers, a soft and comfortable weight, still small enough to tuck them away under a man’s jacket so no-one even knew they were there. No-one but Alek, that was. He liked that, too. He flushed deeper, now, thinking about it.

“Go on, then,” he said, and the sound of his voice surprised him a little. It had dropped suddenly, even as his blood rose—and other things. His left thigh, pressed close against hers, carried the vibrations of the engine up to his groin.

“Of course, your princeliness,” she snapped. It would have sounded more imposing if her voice hadn’t cracked on the last vowel. She shifted a little, and now he did want to watch, his gaze sliding down from her exposed collarbone across breasts and ribs to the place where her trousers gaped open. He could see the dark spring of curls peeking up from under the fabric. She leaned forward, reaching for his shoulder to steady herself, and then her breath hissed in as she changed the angle, rocking slowly toward him and back. “There,” she said tightly.

“Where?” Alek was mesmerized.

“ _There_ ,” she repeated, eyes squeezing shut. “Put your hand—put it underneath.”

He didn’t need to be told twice. He reached under the fabric separating her from the metal, down to the place he’d only touched once before, though it had featured almost nightly in his dreams since then. She was warm, warmer than the heat of the engines could account for, and his hand froze in his surprise as his fingers met a slippery wetness beneath the curls. “All right, then?” she asked, tilting her head up toward him.

He forced himself to look up at her face and was glad he had. Her eyes were wide, somehow soft and fierce at the same time. He could tell she was embarrassed, but under it was the harsh bravado he knew so well. It wasn’t false confidence, he knew. It was both things at the same time.

“All right,” he said, sliding his fingers into her. She put her own hand on his wrist, guiding him so the heel of his palm was sandwiched between the pipe and a smooth, round part of her that twitched invitingly as she pushed her weight against him. He could feel his hand vibrating with the engine and knew Deryn could feel it, too, as he pushed his fingers up into her inner heat and drew them back down.

“Perfect,” she breathed, grinding down against his hand. He felt it go through her, saw her face twist in something that looked almost like pain and felt the muscles clenched around his hand flutter and contract, over and over like the _Leviathan_ ’s rippling sides. He moved closer for a kiss, and as he did his groin grazed the pipe, and he had to bite his lip to keep from crying out.

“Deryn,” he stammered, and she nodded, eyes closing again, reaching for him as she slid sideways off the pipe and into his arms.

They went down to the floor with a soft thump. He barely had time to catch his breath before her hands were on him, scrabbling at his trouser buttons this time. “Do you have—” he asked, but she was pulling a little packet from her jacket pocket, and he smiled, a little lightheaded. The Air Service knew what it was about.

They were back to an awkward, heated fumbling now, but he didn’t think she minded. She freed him from the trousers and ran her fingers over his length, stretching the fabricated membrane along him with eager impatience. He bit his lip again, determined that this time he would make it last for her.

And then he started at the warm, soft touch of something that was not Deryn’s hand, feeling its way along the sensitive skin of his upper thigh.

Deryn let out an odd giggle, the moment broken. “I think the _coleoidines_ like you. We’ll have to teach them they’re made for Clanker engines, not for Clanker cocks.” She reached to push it away, but Alek grabbed her hand, surprising himself.

“Wait,” he said, voice quavering as the creature stretched out one of its long, fleshy tendrils toward her fingers, easing along the place where her skin met his. “Ah. That’s—don’t stop.”

Deryn was peering down at him, interested now. “Don’t you mind?”

“They’re good for delicate machinery, you said,” Alek managed, and a delighted grin flashed across her face.

“All right, then,” she said, and shoved her trousers down to the tops of her boots, giving herself just enough leeway to throw one knee to either side of his hips and sink down onto him. She was warm, and wet, and just heavy enough, and Alek had to draw several long breaths before he had himself under control. And then she raised herself a little, sliding him out. “All right?” she said again, a question this time.

Alek nodded. He could feel the _coleoidine_ reshaping itself around them, one tentacle circling the base of his cock, those little ridges bunching around him, then smoothing out like silk. He’d never felt anything quite like it. “Better than all right,” he said, hoping for another grin. She didn’t disappoint. He pushed himself up to meet her, shuddering—and just when he thought it would send him over the edge, the _coleoidine_ tightened about him, keeping him just on this side of release.

“ _Oh_ ,” Deryn said, as they found a rhythm. He could feel the _coleoidine_ stroking her, too, its muscles working over that swollen and sensitive spot just in front of her opening. And every time they drew together, it gripped him more securely, until the tension built to breaking point and came pulsing at last out of him, Deryn’s thighs strained and quavering on either side. He was coming slowly down from it, dazed with pleasure, when he heard her cry out and felt her twist around him.

They lay for some time, shivering against one another, on the floor of the machine room. The _coleoidine_ slid away, brushing against over-sensitive skin. Deryn let out an odd, half-sobbing sound he’d never heard from her. It might have been a laugh. “Are _you_ all right?” he asked.

“Perfect,” she said into his shoulder. “Everything’s just perfect, you daft prince.”


End file.
